Athens

Athens has some really wonderful sights and some really seedy areas. I find that a lot of foreign cities are like that, but what separates Athens (and Greece) is how difficult it is to tell when you're passing from one to the other. The difference between a nice safe section and a dangerous section can often be only a few feet. First off, Greek cities look really run down. Greeks don't put as much effort into maintaining cities as the Americans and British do. Even street cleaning and trash disposal is largely neglected. Areas like the Parthenon are different because of the number of tourists visiting but even there you can expect to see trash lying around on the ground. I don't think that this is a money issue. Even the areas that have money don't look fancy. Presentation is not a strong feature of Greek culture. It just isn't a big deal for them. While it becomes easier to tell the areas apart after spending some time there you should still expect to see druggies passed out on the street, homeless people, and random gangs of people wandering the streets. At least until you figure out which areas to avoid. Generally, the areas around the Acropolis are pretty safe but if you go north too far past Omonia Square you're on your own. Again, the lack of care means that all Athens looks pretty seedy, but unless you stay in your hotel room you're gonna have to face it sooner or later.

One of the strange things about Athens is that it seems to be the opposite of most cities I've been to in that instead of getting creepier and more frightening at night it looks much safer. The lack of light hides most of the dirt and the storefronts are open and filled with stuff. People are always milling around and hanging out in groups. One of the most common ways to relax in Greece seems to be to sit outside a diner with a group of friends for hours at a time. It is a more basic form of entertainment than sitting on the couch watching TV and one that I find far more rewarding. That whole bit about how the city looks better at night probably ends at some point. When everyone goes in for the night I imagine the streets start to seem a lot less friendly, but I've been out 'till midnight and there were still people around so perhaps Greeks like to stay up late.

Perhaps the biggest exception to 'seedy Athens' is the Metro system. Whether it's because it was heavily restructured for the 2004 Olympics or for some other reason the Metro is one of the cleanest I've ever seen. It's quite easy to use with multiple language ticket machines available. Also extremely neat and impressive is the Acropolis Museum. It houses a large number of impressive finds from the Acropolis and should not be confused with the National Archaeological Museum which houses finds from all over Greece. Underneath the glass floor is an active archaeological dig site. Sections of it are due to be opened to the public within the next year.

Getting food in Athens is fairly easy. There are plenty of restaurants catering to tourists and these usually have their menu in English. Some of the nicest restaurants are located along the road circling the Acropolis. Aside from having good food they also command an excellent view. The Acropolis at night is truly a beauty to behold. If the weather can support it I'd definitely recommend eating outside. They have tents set up over the tables even if it is raining and the view is spectacular. For more mundane thing every city and many of the larger towns have booths scattered about selling snacks and drinks (and occasionally souvenirs). They are kind of like the booths that have set up in New York city but I really haven't seen anything like them outside of Greece. They are massively convenient.

One of the things that I imagine people worry about when visiting Greece is whether they can read the signs and communicate with people. I certainly worried about the last one, although since I know the Greek alphabet I never worried about reading street signs and building names. If I had though I'd have had no cause to worry. Most signs in Athens are written in both Greek and English, particularly anything that might appeal to tourists. Such is the fluency with both alphabets that many of the signs written in Latin characters are not translated into Greek. The only confusing thing is that the spelling of names and places is different from what you might expect. The names are merely transliterated from Greek. That might not be expected to cause much of a problem, but the Greek language has changed a lot over the past 2,000 years. While the English names names are based off of the Classical pronunciations the modern Greek names keep the ancient spelling but pronounce it differently. For example Athens (Αθηνα) is pronounced Athina instead of Athēna. Similarly, desiring to confuse as many tourists as possible they have replaced the typical ph with f. Thus it's Delfi (Δελφοι) not Delphi and Filippi (Φιλιπποι) not Philippi. I'd not be surprised if they referred to filosofy at some point. If a name does seem unfamiliar try pronouncing it in your head and if that doesn't work try to replace the 'i's with 'e's and the 'y's with 'u's.

Communication in Greece can be tricky. In Athens most of the people you meet will know at least a little English. Outside of the city fluency varies. Many of the people who do speak English are really limited to a few topics. Store owners especially are frequently limited in how much English they know. Do not expect people to help you if you're having trouble getting an idea across. Unless they're trying to sell you something they're more likely to leave you to work it out yourself.

The Greek culture is rather an alien one for outsiders. Aside from the language barrier the Greeks do not seem to feel the need to make people's lives easier. It is very much a country of individuals and everybody is always jostling with others to get what they want. Greek people will often behave in a way that seems rude or blunt to Americans and Brits. In our culture there is a certain value placed on politeness which is either absent or less obvious in the Greek world. The fact that Western Europe developed a courtly culture while the Greeks were second-class citizens to the Turks for centuries is probably a significant factor in this difference. Speaking of the Turks, the Greeks definitely have the ability to carry grudges. I have Greek friends who are unwilling to go to Turkey simply because they blame the Turks for what happened centuries ago. To be fair, the Turks seem to have much the same feeling about the Greeks although they are generally more dismissive.

Which brings me to the least attractive Greek character trait. There is a definite air of cultural superiority in every Greek that I've met, in Greece or out. They feel (quite justifiably) proud of what they've achieved and never seem to get tired of reminding other people about it. This attitude causes no end of problems with their neighbors causing them to try and distance themselves from the Greeks while claiming parts of their culture as their own. The Macedonians are the biggest conflict since they claim all historical Macedonians as their own, including Alexander the Great. For a Greek that is utterly unacceptable and both sides have gone to ridiculous extremes to claim him for their own. Even the name Macedonia is a hot topic issue since there is a Greek region called Macedonia which includes much of the former country as well as Alexander's capital. To show you how petty and silly it can get, a friend of mine was at a dig in Albania when they unearthed some bones. The first thing the Albanian government wanted to know was whether the bones were Greek or Albanian. When he asked how he was supposed to tell the difference he was told that the Greeks had thin, effeminate bones while the Albanians had big strong ones. Take my advice, don't get involved in the argument. If someone tries to bring it up change the conversation before you're barraged with propaganda for one side or the other.

The Acropolis is the dominant feature in Athens. Visible for miles it is quite possibly the most impressive Classical structure in existence, as much for its location as its architecture. Access is easy. The Apostolou Pavlou and Dionysiou Areopagitou roads do a half circle around it. If you can find your way to the Agora then you can find your way there. It is extremely easy to spot so it's hard to go too far in the wrong direction. Admission is reasonably priced, about €12 when I went there. They offer separate tickets for all the different sites but the one to get is the group ticket. It gives you access to all the major sites as long as you use it within a week. If you do one thing in Athens it should be the Acropolis. Aside from housing the Parthenon it commands an amazing view of the city as well as secondary temples and a couple of theatres.

The Odeon of Herodes Atticus is just south of the Acropolis. As you go in past the entrance it should be on your right. It is a very well preserved theatre and when I was there I saw people wandering around it, even though I never figured out how to get there. On the other side of this building is the Acropolis Museum which is really worth seeing. It has artifacts from the Acropolis as well as a working archaeological dig.

The Theatre of Dionysus is right below the Acropolis. It is where many of the most famous Athenian plays were produced.It is small compared with the Odeon but you can wander around and sit on the same chairs that the Athenians did 2500 years ago.

Just west of the Acropolis is the Areopagus. It's a big mound of rock that seems unprepossessing and slightly out of place. While it may have a great view it certainly doesn't look like a place of great importance, yet it was here that the Athenian council met to discuss matters of state. Essentially this is the equivalent of the Senate building in Rome, only outside and exposed to the weather. It was also known by the Romans as Mars Hill (Ares=Roman Mars. pagos=hill) and is where St. Paul was supposed to have preached to the Athenians. It is much closer to the Acropolis than it looks. If you come up from the Agora you walk right past it. You can access it either by the metal stairs or the original stairs carved into the rock. A warning about the second route: years of use have made these stairs very smooth and slippery. Its use as a place of government died out under the Democracy and was replaced in most things by the Pnyx.

The Pnyx was where the Assembly met and ran the government. Basically this large hill held the entire voting population of Athens. The speaker would stand on the speaker's platform (pictured) and address the crowd. They would discuss the matter at hand and then decide the matter by a show of hands. 

Having a commanding view of the Acropolis must have given them a real sense of the importance of the event. A lot of people having seen the Areopagus don't bother with the Pnyx. Many people don't even know it exists but it is certainly worth seeing. Not only is the view worth seeing but you can stand on the same spot as Deosthenes or Pericles. The surrounding park is also worth seeing. It isn't that far of a walk from the Acropolis. When you come out and hit the main road there should be a path leading off the opposite side of the road marked Pnuka. That's the modern name for the Pnyx. You go up that path a ways and turn right when it tells you and you're there.

The Agora was the marketplace where all of the business was transacted. While the Acropolis may be one of the most distinctive features this is where the Athenians really lived on a day to day basis. Trade, worship, trials, government, it all happened here under the very shadow of the Acropolis. The long building in these two pictures is a reconstruction of the Stoa of Attalus made in the 1950s. It houses the Agora Museum. As I recall admission is included in the price of the ticket to the Agora. There really isn't much in there worth seeing unfortunately. Your time would be better spent wandering the Agora. A lot of the Agora has been destroyed by time, but there is still enough that you can get a feel for where things would have stood in ancient times. If you're coming here from Omonia Square or anywhere in the north then this is the first attraction that you will see, listed as the Archia Agora. It is just below the Acropolis and you can walk up there using the same route that the procession used to take during festivals.

The Temple of Hephaestus is one of the best preserved Greek temples around. It is located on a hill on the western side of the Agora.

It commands an amazing view of the Acropolis, just as it dominates the view from there. This area is part of an attempt on the part of the Greek authorities to recreate the environment as it would have appeared in the Classical Era. All trees and plants are native to Greece and I'm pretty sure that they have intentionally released turtles since I saw several in there.
 

The Roman Forum replaced the Agora during the Roman period. It is not nearly as impressive as the Agora and I'm not completely sure why they felt the need to move. Hadrian built a library on the side of the forum and that is where you access the site from. It is not as impressive a site as the Agora, but it is interesting to see how the Romans reorganized Athens. This is also included in the ticket price as the Library of Hadrian. It's to the east of the Agora.

Moving in reverse, as you leave the Agora to the north you'll come across this square. It is one of the nicer modern areas of Athens and is filled with stores. It is also where the easiest located metro station is found. There are others closer but it's easier to go from this one.

Some people will want to see the sea while they're in Greece. I can't recommend doing it in Athens. The closest port is the Piraeus and it is the busiest port on the Mediterranean. It is crowded and difficult to navigate. If you want a good view of the sea you have to walk for miles and you'll find a few private ports run for local fishermen and pleasure yachts. These are generally sealed off from public access. I did eventually manage to find the sea by sitting on a long pier where they repair cruise ships. There were people there fishing, but it was not the kind of place I'd go back to again.

Piraeus has been the main port of Athens for millennia and used to be connected to the city through the Long Wall. The Long Wall was what it sounds like, a giant wall connecting Athens to its port. It made it impossible for their enemies to cut off their food supply for as long as they maintained naval dominance. There isn't much of it left except for a few pieces here and there. This one was located between two busy roads and seems to be impossible to access unless you go through one of the buildings. There really is too much history in Athens. You just have to ignore some of it to keep moving on or you'll be stuck there forever.

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